


Again

by malchik



Series: Hartwin Shorts [1]
Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: Fluff, I hope, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-11
Updated: 2015-03-11
Packaged: 2018-03-17 09:48:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3524684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malchik/pseuds/malchik
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry wakes up from his coma and sees Eggsy watching over him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Again

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: pretentious-trash

Harry Hart was still alive, much to his own surprise.

The first few days Harry had spent at the hospital, he resolved as the haziest of his life. He could even say, with ease, that they never happened, or that nothing ever happened during those times, since he could just barely remember the most basic of details - the shuffling of feet, the constant beeping of a machine, the rough scribbling on a clipboard -

\- but there was always, _always_ , that gentle squeeze on his left hand. It felt comforting, loving, and he was still to miss the day when it wouldn’t happen.

As the weeks passed by, his mind had started to become unclouded. Everything started to become better (at least in his head), but that warm presence beside him, it never changed. It was always there every single day, for as long as he can remember.

_Eggsy._

_It was always Eggsy._

Of course he knew. He’d recognize that comforting scent anywhere: the floral shampoo, the smell of the lotion Eggsy was so fond of, and that musky perfume he started wearing because Harry told him to. It was a mixture of these pleasant things, and while not the best smelling for everyone when put together, it was for Harry.

Whenever Eggsy visited, Harry would feel the depression on one side of his bed, where Eggsy would lie his head. After that he’d caress Harry’s hands, trace the lines of his palm, and on some nights he’d kiss the tips of Harry’s fingers. Eggsy would then spend the night asleep at his side - but in the middle of the night Harry would wake up to Eggsy crying, and try as the boy might to muffle the sounds, the little whimpers and hiccups gave him away. Harry can’t see through his closed lids, and from what had happened to him, he doubted he’d still see again, but imagining the boy wallowing through life with this kind of sadness made his heart ache so much. He wanted to pull the IV tubes off him and position Eggsy to his lap and kiss him tenderly on the lips, on the cheeks, on the neck, until Eggsy would feel the tickles and burst out laughing. He wanted to move, but his body was too rigid, like a log in an ocean, and all the medicine were the waves keeping him afloat.

 

*

 

Eggsy was there by his side the day he finally opened his eyes. The light had been blinding, and it took him a few minutes before his sight could adjust.

His eyes landed on the figure sitting beside his bed, and he almost stopped breathing at the sight.

Eggsy hadn’t been eating. It was obvious from the way his siren suit, which before had fitted his body perfectly, now hung limp and shapeless. His sallow face and the dark bags under his eyes only brought the point home. He stared at Harry, his eyes wide and red, and his body stiff.

“Eggsy?” Harry said, his voice raspy.

The young man remained seated, but his chest was heaving pronouncedly.

Harry heard air getting stuck in Eggsy's throat - and then the tears came.

Eggsy hid his face behind his hands.

Harry couldn’t bear looking at him distressed. Immediately, he caught his attention by calling out his name again, this time louder.

“Come here, Eggsy.”

Eggsy was there in a heartbeat. He gathered Harry in a bone-crushing hug, resting his face on the older man’s neck, crying his eyes out.

“Oh, thank fuck, thank fuck…” Eggsy murmured continuously, as if a mantra. Harry raised his weak arm and comforted him by rubbing his back.

“…I thought you were dead…I saw Valentine pull the trigger…I thought you were dead and I-”

“Shush, Eggsy. I’m very much alive, as you can see and feel.”

Eggsy hit him on the shoulder, albeit softly. “Shut up,” he said, sniffing, before resting his head on Harry’s shoulder.

They continued whispering to one another: they talked about nothing, they talked about anything. It was meaningless talk, but Harry’s voice seemed to calm Eggsy down.

The nurse found them sharing the hospital bed, Eggsy using Harry’s chest as a pillow, and Harry snuggling on the younger man’s hair. As nice a view as it was, she had to wake them up so that she could fix the blood backflow in Harry’s IV tubing.

 

*

 

Merlin came by the next day, along with Roxy. Eggsy hadn’t eaten since dinner, so he and Roxy went out for lunch (through Harry’s serious coaxing, seeing as Eggsy didn’t want to leave his side for even one minute) while Harry and Merlin were left inside the hospital room.

The room went silent once the two were gone, and the scent of iodine had gone stronger.

“You look horrible,” Merlin said, breaking the silence, a small smile on his lips.

“As I am aware of, Merlin. Do you want to comment on my pyjamas as well? They’re provided by the hospital, and I must say, they are not the greatest material on the skin.”

Merlin tried not to laugh, but failed. Harry had to smile back. It was pleasant to hear Merlin’s laugh again.

“Good to have you back.”

“It’s good to be back, Merlin.”

Another comfortable silence filled the room, before Harry broke it this time.

“How long has it been?”

“Three months. The bullet had touched quite a lot of nerves. We weren’t even sure could get out of the coma.”

Harry, out of instinct, touched the bandage covering his eye. “What happened to Valentine?”

“Dead. Eggsy killed him. He saved the world.”

“He’s a full-fledged Kingsman now, then?”

“Of course. Wouldn’t pass the opportunity.”

“And is he faring well with the lifestyle?”

Merlin stared at him, his lips pursed from clear frustration and amusement. Harry raised an eyebrow in question.

“Why are you even asking me this, Harry? Why not ask the kid himself?”

Harry leaned back on his pillow, glad of short term comfort it gave him. He pressed his head back farther, until he could feel the hard wall pressing against the material.

“You feel guilty, don’t you?”

Harry gazed at Merlin, waiting for his next statement. He had nothing to say, and Merlin must have sensed that, since he continued.

“He’s not some kind of china that would easily break, Harry.”

“I know.”

“Then stop acting as if he’s one. Be a decent man and make him feel that you’ve missed him too and that you’re somewhat sorry for making him depressed for months.”

Harry gaped at Merlin, surprised at the outburst.

“Pray, tell me,” Harry started, when he finally got out of his surprise, “have you been waiting too long to say that to my face?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact.”

Harry scoffed, rather ungentlemanly.

“Oh, and by the way, you’re Arthur now.”

“ _I beg your pardon?_ ”

 

*

 

A few days later, after more tests and visits from the doctors, Harry was packed and ready to go home.

Merlin showed his support by not letting him work for another month.

”I am _Arthur_ now, Merlin. Don’t you think that I get to have a say on when I could do my job? I feel perfectly fine,” he said.

“Let me remind you that my namesake’s got the magic, and he was Arthur’s adviser. I say no, that is my advise, so no, you don't work for a month. Eggsy’s going to have this month off as well, seeing as you both need it the most. We'll manage.”

And so, there he was, lying on the couch at 8 am with nothing else to do but watch the dreadful morning shows he hadn’t laid eyes on in years. Sprawled on top of him was a snoring Eggsy, draped in Harry’s maroon robe (it seemed that he had taken a particular liking to the said clothing) - which looked ironic in Harry’s eyes, as the boy hadn’t had a shower for days. J.B. sat at the foot of the couch, occasionally padding towards Harry’s outstretched arm for a pet. The smell of coffee wafted in from the kitchen. Everything painted an image too unfamiliar but strangely comfortable to him.

It had become Harry’s job to make sure that Eggsy always ate and slept properly. For the reasons Harry didn’t want to talk with him just yet, Eggsy’s living patterns had gone awry. That or maybe because he was still young.

He gently shook the boy’s shoulder. “You have a bed, Eggsy.”

Eggsy moaned in protest, before snuggling closer, burying his face in the crook of Harry’s armpit.

Harry sighed.

“Hey,” Eggsy suddenly said, his voice muffled.

“Yes, Eggsy?”

“Sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?”

Eggsy repositioned his body, resting his body on the side so that he was looking at Harry. “For…y’know…shit.” He sighed. “Forget it. I’m just happy you’re back.”

Harry ruffled Eggsy’s hair - and even though his hand came out scathed with grease, he didn’t say it out loud. Without warning, he pulled Eggsy towards him until they were face to face, causing a yelp from the other.

“Oi!”

Harry traced Eggsy’s cheeks with his thumb, drawing invisible circles on his smooth face. “I’m sorry I worried you.”

Eggsy, now blushing, tried to look everywhere except his eyes. “’sfine,” he mumbled.

Harry can’t help but smile. He tilted Eggsy’s head with one hand, forcing the young man to meet his eyes. He brushed strands of stray hair away from Eggsy’s forehead.

“I love you, Eggsy.”

Harry felt Eggsy’s body freeze on top of him. His eyes were wide, glassy.

“Y-you serious?” He managed to ask.

Harry leaned in and gave his lips a peck, short, yet sweet enough to elicit tears of joy out of Eggsy’s eyes.

"Yes."

“Fuckin' dork,” Eggsy whispered, before giving Harry another kiss, this time longer.

 

*

 

They were about to do more, but J.B. decided that it’s time for his walk.

“Fuckin' dog,” Eggsy grumbled.

Grudgingly, he got off Harry.

“Wanna come with?” he asked.

Harry said yes.

 

*

 

“Harry?”

“Yes?”

“Say it again?”

“I love you.”

“Again?”

“I love you.”

 

*

 

“Harry?”

“Yes, Eggsy?”

“I love you, too.”

“I know.”

“Shut up, you’re ruinin' the moment.”


End file.
